2014

It Is Time to Reform Laws on Marijuana Use

December 22, 2014 | Angus Love | The Legal Intelligencer

In 1934, Harry Anslinger, the nation’s first drug czar, led a campaign to outlaw marijuana. Previously, it had been used for a variety of medicinal purposes and was subject to local ordinances. Anslinger mounted a public relations campaign to achieve his goal of criminalizing the drug. Some suggested the campaign had racial overtones, especially Mexican Americans who were often portrayed as menaces to society when indulging in marijuana. Others suggested the campaign was bankrolled and publicized by William Randolph Hearst to eliminate hemp as an industrial competitor to his considerable timber/paper holdings. The movie “Reefer Madness” symbolized the campaign of fear and distortion.

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'The New Jim Crow' to Be Explored at Annual CLE Day

November 24, 2014 | Su Ming Yeh | The Legal Intelligencer

The Public Interest Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association is set to present its Annual Public Interest Law Day CLE Program on Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, CLE Conference Center, Wanamaker Building, 10th floor, Philadelphia. This CLE program will offer six substantive and two ethics CLE credits and will present a wide array of hot topics in public interest law. It will be followed by the Public Interest Section's Annual Awards Ceremony and Reception at the Marriott at 1201 Market St., Philadelphia, in the Independence Ballroom, where the Hon. Louis H. Pollak Award will be presented to retired Judge Edmund Spaeth. The Andrew Hamilton Award will also be presented.

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PILP Hosts Russian Activists

June 4, 2014 | Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project

On June 4, 2014, the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project met with 5 Russian Human Rights Activists at the behest of the US Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program. The group was interested in learning about best practices of nonprofit organizations such as the PILP. They also were interested in exchanging ideas and techniques that increased self-sufficiency and sustainability.

They also expressed an interested in joint international projects between the PILP and themselves. Finally they were interested in our sources of funding.

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